workinprogress 's review for:

An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister

2.25

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The plot had a lot going on yet at the same time nothing at all. Typical of the cozy *insert genre* where there is a lot of telling rather than showing,  I did not feel the usual angst and yearning that come with the enemies to lovers trope mainly because we were told they were academic rivals rather than being shown that. Both Sadie and her sister sucked and their feud took up at least 60% of the book which was exhausting. The dad felt comically misogynistic and evil which had no payoff whatsover other than for Sadie to have her girlboss pwnd moments. The guy was bland and uninteresting, the footnotes were cute though. I felt like we saw too much, if we only had one person's perspective there would have been more tension and angst. An easy enough read.